1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a device for separating coins, comprising a rotatable base disc and a delimiting element, wherein the base disc and the delimiting element delimit a receiving area, open to the top, for receiving a quantity of coins to be separated, and wherein in the delimiting element an opening for the passage of coins and for the feeding to an elastic conveying element is provided in a transfer region, which conveying element feeds separated coins along a circular ring-shaped sorting track to sorting devices.
2. Description of the Related Art
Devices for handling coins usually have an input compartment into which the coins to be handled can be input in the form of an unsorted quantity of coins. This input quantity of coins is fed to a coin storage container in the form of a receiving area which is defined by means of delimiting elements and from which the coins are further processed. So that the input coins can be checked with respect to their authenticity by means of corresponding sensors and a later sorting can be implemented, it is required that the input coins are separated, i.e. that the coins when fed to a sensor unit and/or a sorting unit do not lie on top of each other and are not arranged laterally next to each other on a transport path.
In order to achieve such a separation, often coin centrifuges are used in which the coins of the quantity of coins received in the coin storage container are arranged on a rotating disc. By means of the centrifugal force acting on the coins upon rotation of the disc, the coins are conveyed outward. In the delimiting element for the coin supply, at least one opening is provided which is formed such that only one coin at a time can pass, as a result whereof the separation of the coins is accomplished.
What is problematic with such known coin centrifuges is that the separation is only accomplished unreliably so that it may easily happen that several coins are simultaneously transported through the opening and thus a minimum distance between the coins required for the further processing is not reliably guaranteed. Further, the opening in the delimiting element can easily be blocked by coins getting wedged therein so that a coin jam occurs which can only be removed by way of a manual intervention.
Further, it is problematic that each time the coin centrifuges have to be adapted to the set of coins to be handled, in that the size of the opening is correspondingly matched to the coin set. The opening or the openings have to be designed such that indeed the largest coin to be handled can be conveyed therethrough but no two of the smallest coins to be handled simultaneously fit through the opening. Likewise, it has to be guaranteed that the thickest coin can pass the opening but not two coins lying on top of each other.
A device for separating coins is known from DE 195 43 216 A1. This device comprises a feeder disc which interacts with a coin removal disc and performs a coin separation in connection with a coin gap. The coins to be separated are fed to a circular sorting track on which the coins are moved in a flat-lying and sliding manner by means of an annularly moved brush device along the sorting track. For sorting the coins to be separated, the sorting track contains openings through which the coins fall.
It is the object of the invention to specify a device for separating coins, by means of which in a large range of coins a reliable separation of the coins from an input quantity of coins is made possible.